I can’t be held responsible for the fact that such weather induces comfort baking habits, or the fact that such habits may cause one to undo their top trouser button. Or in my case, untie my PJ bottoms. What? It’s cold, my PJs are warm, I didn’t want to get out of them today, the rest of my clothes were just so cooooold to the touch! Don’t judge me, it’s no big deal I swear!

Does it make you feel better that these are gluten free, egg free, dairy free & vegan?

No? Me either.

I’m chalking it down to cravings & I’m going to enjoy every single mouthful.

Before I spill on the recipe though, I do want to take a moment & have you admire my cake stand. The one I’ve so wonderfully used to display my rolls on.

Like it?

I bought it from a friend who’s got a deliciously marvelous antique shop online called Wanstead Homewares. You really should check it out. One of these days I’ll convince her to do a guest post here for us since she’s quite the chef herself & is strictly gluten-free & vegan. Kind of perfect huh.

I know I promised everyone Champagne Thursdays. Really. I’m not changing that, I’m just skipping this Thursday is all.

I blame pancakes.

Warm, buttery, fluffy gluten-free pancakes with maple syrup.

I couldn’t shake the craving. I woke up with a hankering for them that was undeniable & I just had to fulfill it.

I’m sorry. I know I said we’d get a little light headed & enjoy a break from the mid-week work load together, & we will. Just not today.

You can’t blame me when it comes to buttermilk banana pancakes.

I haven’t had a pancake since before I found out that there would be no more gluten. I didn’t dare allow myself to dream that there could ever be pancakes again! But this morning, this morning I couldn’t take it any longer. I made what I had previously thought to be impossible, possible.

Like this:

This has become my favorite winter salad. I make sure to get a piece of every ingredient on each mouthful because this combination is an amazing experience. The catalyst that combines everything so well are the candied walnuts so make sure to include them… they are not just for show. You can either make them with maple syrup, which in my opinion gives them a more complex flavor and is easier to handle, or with sugar for a more crunchy result. For the walnuts, you can multiply the recipe and make these for your own indulgunce or give as a gift.

(mel seems to think this is an acceptable use of a dish cloth, to permanently stain them for the easy removal of the beetroot skins) – nickey

(in his defense, it worked a treat… doesn’t change the fact that the towel was still destroyed) – nickey

You know those days that just seem rotten? Today is most certainly one of them. I mean I feel really, really rotten right now. Writing this post is causing me physical pain, really. The thing is, I can’t stop myself.

Yes, I’m having a “woe is me” day completely. I left work early due to a pounding headache brought on by the illness that is descending on me. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was eat… but who wants to cook in a messy kitchen?? So, I cleaned up. During the process of washing the dishes, I managed to shatter a wine glass whilst my hand was inside it & managed to slice my poor little finger open down to the bone. It’s not a long cut, but it’s deep. Now my finger looks like a sausage, you know, one of those little vienna ones. Poor thing.

I did have an up moment though. I had my driving lesson later on & found an error on the digital test. The first time I got the question wrong, I put it down to misreading the question. The second time, I carefully read my choices & chose the only logical answer since the other two were clearly wrong…. based again on the wording. When I failed it the second time my instructor began to show me an engine & how it works, of course I threw a temper tantrum & insisted that I hadn’t gotten it wrong because I was stupid, but rather because the test was inaccurate. Together we each reset the test over & over again until we came to the right question. You want to know something? I was right, there was an error in the test!

Oh, how I love my little wins.

My day got better though. Talking about this salad, this mouth-watering grilled pear, radicchio & brie salad just makes me melt. What is it about grilled brie with fruit? Moments like this make me love Mel a little more. I swear, the way to my heart is clearly through my stomach. So here it is, the symphony preformed for my taste-buds. If you enjoy it even half as much as I did, I know that you’ll love it.